Help us develop our family domain in beautiful Morvan region, France

Details

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  Description

  Salut! We are a young family living on an old farm in a beautiful regional park in France. The house and garden were neglected for 20 years before we bought it five years ago. We are still cleaning up, clearing land, and we always have work to do. Varying from pruning to rebuilding old stone walls, to landscaping, painting and preparing the vegetable garden. We (Stef and Lisa) have been living in the Morvan for 8 years, and have three kids of the ages 6, 3 and 9 months old. We also have a dog, two cats, and chickens.
  
  The work in spring includes preparing the veg garden (weeding, adding compost, planting), clearing two new pieces of land we've just bought, processing branches with a wood chipper, taking care of the chickens, more weeding around the yurt, improving the shower outhouse of the yurt, and building walls with branches.
  
  This fall we are renovating a big part of the house, which will be done by contractors, but we are doing a lot of demolition ourselves before they start. We need to get everything moved (including a kitchen) and then we're looking at a month of demo, excavating floors, taking down walls, taking out a ceiling etc. We need some muscle for this work, but there's also work like preparing the stone walls by taking out the cement. We're hiring the appropriate tools for all of this to be as efficient as possible. We have little experience with this so if you do that's great, but it's not necessary.
  
  It would also be great if you could help out with cooking every now and then. We eat vegan but eggs and cheese etc can be added on the side.
  
  We've had a lot of Workawayers before the pandemic and we loved getting to know new people. We are so grateful for all the work that they have done, with three small kids we are quite busy and we always have more to do than we can handle! We welcome people of all ages, sexual orientations, ethnicities and genders.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We can offer you an insight in two cultures, mostly Dutch but also French. You will experience setting up a homestead and living life at a 'slow pace' as we try to do. We are very intentional about how we live and why we chose to live here. Our English is good, Lisa speaks French as well and a bit of Spanish, and we also speak Dutch of course. Our daughters speak both Dutch and French.
  
  We're happy to share our skills with you. We also encourage you to think about how you want to complete a job, we won't be like a 'boss' but we'll work alongside you. A lot of the work we do we figure out on the spot too. We can also share our experiences about living in the countryside, moving to a different country, working remote, running your own company.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  Our terrain is a diamond in the rough: it has great features but it has been neglected for 20 years. The chores outside is mainly clearing weeds and bushes, pruning, planting, wood construction, building or restoring stone walls, constructing wood fences, painting, renovation work on the house, etc. On rainy days we'll make jam and other preserves if it's in season. The chores depends on your physical strength and your interests.
  
  Since we both have a job we are only able to accompany you in the work 2-3 days a week. The other 2-3 days you have to undertake the tasks by yourself. You'll have days off during the week as the weekend is when we are also free to accompany you in the work.
  
  If you like we'd also love it if you help with cooking every now and then, to share recipes and cuisines. Babysitting is not required but it is a big plus if you are comfortable with children since we have outgoing kids :).

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  French: Fluent
  Dutch: Fluent

  This host offers a language exchange
  This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
  You can contact them directly for more information.
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  Accommodation

  For your accommodation we have a fire truck turned camper van, you can sleep in the camper or in the roof tent (with great view). It has heating, water and electricity so you have a nice space to yourself. It needs a bit of repair too so if that interests you you can also participate in that. It's possible to coook in the van but we love to have all our meals together. We also have a yurt that we rent out, but you can stay there if it's not booked.

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  What else ...

  The region has a lot of hiking and mountain biking possibilities, and there are nice lakes where you can swim. There's a horse riding ranch nearby. We live 20 minutes by car from a very nice historical town where you will find restaurants, a cinema, a market every week, etc. It was founded by the Romans and there are still a lot of historical monuments to see. There is no public transport so you will need a car to get around. We can also show you the most beautiful hike of the region.
  
  We cook vegan and mostly vegetarian, but we eat fish occasionally. We would appreciate it if you'd join us in this. We're not really strict but we try to eat as healthy as possible. We eat mostly fresh produce, nothing too fancy but limited processed food, not too much sugar, etc.
  
  We both work from home most of the time so we will be able to assist you in the work. Lisa does this three days a week when both kids are at school and daycare. Lisa also has her own business designing sewing patterns. Stef works from home as a front end developer. We prefer to give you your days off during the week and on Wednesday, as we have time to work together with you on the weekends. Wednesday is our 'family day' when everyone is at home.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Space for parking camper vans

  We have a big parking space at the front of the house. Comes with a nice view, electricity and wifi.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  Hours expected

  4-5 hrs a day, 5 days a week

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